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No. 6|4,589. Patented Nov. 227 |898.

F. J. WICH;,& C. L. IRELAND. L. M. IRELAND, Administratrix of c. L. IRELAND, necd. TRIMMING MECHANISM FUR LINOTYPE MACHINES.

(Application filed Dec. 31, 1897.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. 6|4,5a9. Y Patented Nov. 22,. |898. F. J. wlcH & c. L. IRELAND. L. M. IRELAND, AdminiShariX 0f C., L. IRELAND, Decd. TRIMMING MECHANISM FR LINOTYPE MACHINES.

(Application filed Dc. 31, 1897.)

(No Model.) Zv Sheets-Sheet 2.

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INrrED STATES PATENT Enron.

FERDINAND JOI-IN WICH, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, AND LOTTIE M.

IRELAND, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ADMINISTRATRIX OF CHARLES L. IRE- LAND, DECEASED, ASSIGNORS TO THE MERGENTHALER LINOTYPE COMPANY, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

TRIIVIIVIING` MECHANISIVI FOR LINOTYPE-IVIACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,589, dated November 22, 1898.

Application filed December 3l, 1897. Serial N0. 665,102. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Beit known that FERDINAND JOHN WIGH, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Manchester, in the county of Lancaster,England, and CHARLES LEWIS IRE- LAND, late a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, England, but now deceased, invented certain new and useful Improvements in theTrimming Mechanism of Linotype-Machines, (for which Letters Patent have been obtained in Great Britain and Ireland, No. 20,318, dated October 2S, 1895,) of which invention the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part thereof and read therewith, and one which will enable others skilled in'the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to improvements in the trimming mechanismof linotype-machines; and the object of it is to prevent loss and damage and to expedite Work when the machine is engaged in producing linotypes some of which begin with two-line capitals.

Those who are familiar with the machine production of linotypes or printing-bars are aware that there is a certain amount of trimming to be done to both their sides. The twoline capital at the head of a linotype has the lower half of it projecting beyond the adjacent side of the linotype. The expression twoline-capital linotype must be understood as including three-line-capital linotype or the like, as it is evident that the particular size of the capital letter does not affect the matter. Such projection therefore renders the trimming of the sides of such linotype, by its being passed between a pair of parallel trimmingknives as long as itself, impractible, for the reason that such passage would result in the lower half of the capital being shorn off. To

preventsuch shearing off, it has been proposed to make the respective knife end capable'of being moved out of the way before the advance of the two-line-capit-al linotype to the trimming mechanism and of being replaced in its normal position before the advance of the next normal linotype. The provision at present in use for so moving the said knife end outfof the way has been essentially of a type for hand manipulation only, and for that reason demanding alert attention on the part of the mind, the eye, and the hand of the operator, or loss of time and material, damage to linotypes, and delayed output are. more or less inevitable.

The details of the provision above mentioned will be found in the specification of British Letters Patent No. 8,258, dated April 26, 1894, and are as follows: The respective knife end is in a separate piece from the rest of the knife, but it is pivoted thereto, so as to be capable of being turned by a Winch-handle through a quarter of a circle and that in the plane of the whole knife. The pivot is so positioned that the tail of the knife end-t e., the piece of the latter on the side of the pivot opposite to the trimming-edge-stands, after the Winch-handle has been turned vthrough the distance stated, at a vdistance from the rest of the knife greater than the width of the projection of the two-line capital, thereby establishing a clear way for the passage of such projection; but if the operator does not turn the Winch-handle at the right moment the two-line-capital linotype will lose the said projection, and if he does not turn the Winchhandle back in time the next normal lino'type will be imperfectly trimmed.

It has been proposed to perfect the mechanism for trim ming a two-line-capital linotype by providing for the automatic withdrawal of the knife in the direction-of its edge, for the introduction into the space so vacated of the projection of the two-line capital, for the return of the knife along its line of withdrawal, for the apron acting as a stop to it by standing as an abutment against the end of the knife, for the restoration of the knife to its normal position, and for the disconnection of the withdrawing mechanism when the following linotype is an ordinary one.

It is well known that in the linotype machine the mold for the linotype is a slot in a mold-wheel, that the latter is carried on an axle which is part of the mold-slide, that this slide is capable of a motion up to and away from the casting position, that the mold is advanced to the casting position against the matrices and withdrawn therefrom for a short distance after the casting operation, that the mold-wheel then makes a partial revolution, thereby bringing the mold and linotype in it opposite the ejector-blade, that the latter is moved forward into the mold, ejects the linotype, and is then withdrawn from the mold, and that the mold-wheel then rotates into its normal position. Perfecting mechanisms of the type described will be found fully described in the specifications of British Letters Patent No. 1,389, dated January 21, 1895, and No. 145047, dated July, 23, 1895; but experience in the working out and practical application of such perfecting mechanisms has demonstrated that the automatic return motion of the knife is apt to be too strong for the projection; that the latter cannot always be relied on to act as a stop, for the top of the knife will shear off the projection of a narrow capital, such as 1, and may sometimes do the same for the lower half of a W The present invention consists, broadly, in providing an additional mechanism adapted to brake or retard the return motion of the knife so far as to bring it within the opposing or stopping power of the projection.

Our invention does not limit us in respect of the particular type of brake or retarding device which we may employ.

XVe have found that a graduated let-off mechanism, consisting of a modified pendulum escapement, gives a satisfactory result, and for that reason we have selected it for illustration and detailed specification; but it must be understood that the combination of an alternative brake mechanism of either of the four types mentioned above or of any other equivalent type with the movable trimming-knife is within the scope of the present invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a side elevation from the right hand of the machine of the right-hand knifeblock, the mold-wheel slide, and the ejectorblade. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, but omitting the buffer device. Fig. 3 is a plan of Fig. 1, but including part of the mold-wheel with the two-linecapital linotype in it advanced to the trimming mechanism far enough to unlock the movable trimming-knife. Fig. 4 is an elevation from the right hand of the pendulum escapement. spending therewith. Fig. Gis an elevation from the right hand of the rack-plate. Fig.

7 is a rear elevation corresponding therewith. A 1s the mold-wheel; B, the mold-wheel Fig. 5 is a rear elevation correslide; C, the ejector-blade, and D the trinimin g-block, t0 which the trimming-knives are made fast. These parts are substantially thc same as are described in the specification of the United States Patent No. 436,532, dated September 16, 1890. The mechanisms for actuating the mold-wheel slide and the ejectorblade are both omitted from the figures for the reason that they, as well as the members which they actuate, are outside the scope of the present invention.

E F are the two trimming-knives, and c j' their cutting edges. They are made according to British Letters Patent No. 22, 921, dated November 26, 1894.-@1 e., with portions of the edge in advance of the remainder. Both knives are held to the rear face of the trimmin g-block parallel with each other and at thc proper distance apart, as heretofore, for the passage of the linotype i and the ejector-blade C. The right-hand knife E is movable in the direction of its length as and for the reason explained in the specification of the British Letters Patent No. 1,2389, aforesaid. This motion is a reciprocating vertical one and takes place in a guide J, which may be of any suitable construction. The one illustrated is a block made fast to the rear face of the trimming-block D.

jjj are headed pins or screws fast to the knife E and projecting horizontally to the right through vertical slots I7" j' in the guideblock J, the length of the said slots being adj usted to the length of the above-mentioned motion of the knife E. ,7'2 is a plate adapted to slide smoothly upon the right-hand face of the guide-block. It has .all the pinsjl made fast to it, and, further, carries a stud js, which is fast to it, and projects laterally from it to the right hand.

Zt is a pin screwed into a forward extension of the trimming-block for the purpose of providing the fulcrum of a bell-crank lever. One arm Zt" of the latter extends to the rear and rests upon the stud j. The other and shorter arm /02 stands up above the arm 7c and has its outer end connected by a link k3 to a stud 7.71, projecting from the right side of the ejector-slide.

Z is a push-pin adapted to move to and fro in a horizontal bearing Z and cavity Z2 in the guide-block J and the Jtrimming-block D, respectively. It has a shoulder Z3 fast on it and a spiral spring Z4 surrounding its front portion and adapted by bearing against the front of the cavity Z2 to keep the shoulder Z3 up to the back of the block J and the nose of the pin Z protruded as far to the rear as the length of the pin to the rear of the said shoulder permits of.

m is a block fast upon the pin Z in a certain position thereon-to wit, the one which will permit it to stand over the front right-hand corner of the knife E (supposing that were its lower position) when the shoulder Z3 is up ICO IIO

to the block J. This block is in fact a springactuated-stop adapted to lock the knife E down in the said lower position.

n is a rearward projection from the knife E, so positioned and dimensioned as to stand under the projection t" of the two-line capital at the head of the linotype t at or during the iirst portion of the travel of the moldwheel A to the front,'as well as a little to the rear of and also a little to the right of the cutting edge e of the knife E, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

o is a returning-spring adapted to pull the knife E up again after its depression by the bell-crank lever above mentioned, and o a buffer-spring against the downward motion of the same knife, which motion reaches it through an upstanding thrust-pin 02- and a lever 03, the latter having its fulcrum at 04 intermediate of the pivoted connection 05 between it and the pin o2 on the one hand and the buffer-spring o' on the other.

All the mechanism described above is the same as in the before-mentioned Patent No. 14,047 of 1895.

p is a vertical rack fast to the knife E by being in the rear edge of the platejz, above mentioned.

q is a spur-pinion gearing with the rack p. It is fast on an axle which has its bearing in a boss q', carried by an arm q2, fast to and projecting to the rear from the trimmingblock D.

r is an escapement-wheel having angular teeth of the contour shown. It is loose on the axle of the pinion q.

r is a ratchet-wheel fast on the same axle and adapted to prevent the rotation of the escapement-wheehn in one direction by means of a pawl r2, pivoted on the said wheel and held in engagement with the ratchet-wheel r by a spring r3. The latter may be kept in action by an arm r4, fast to the pendulumrod mentioned farther on, or in any other convenient way.

s is an ancho-r-escapement, s a pendulumrod fast to it, and 82 a pendulum-bob adjustable on the said rod by means of a set-screw s3. The escapement-pivot s4 has its bearing in a second boss g3, carried by the arm g2, above mentioned.

g4 is a stop-pin adapted to keep the anchorescapement sin engagement with the escapement-wheel r.

The present invention acts in conjunction with the mechanism described above, as reproduced from Patent No. 14,04!! of 1895, as follows: The link 7c3 having been connected to the stud 7a4 immediately before the rearward motion of the mold-wheel slide, the said motion will have the effect of pulling the knife E down into its lowest position, whereupon the locking-block m is made to stand immediately over its front right-hand corner, thereby locking it down. Neither the gearing of the spur-pinion y with the rack p nor the engagement of the pawl r2 withthe ratchetwheel 7" have any tendency to stop the said motion of the knife E, because of the pinion q being loose on its axle and because of the set of the pawl r2 and teeth of the ratchetwheel r. The rearward motion of the pushpin l projects its nose as far to the rear as is necessary for it to be engaged by the moldwheel A at the proper moment for unlocking the block m from the knife E. After the cast the mold-wheel A moves to the front and, engaging the nose of the push-pin Z, pushes it into its socket for a short distance, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3,and at the same time places the projection t" vertically over the projection n. It has been already explained that the downward motion of the knife e takes it down into its lowest position. This lowest position holds the projection n some distance beneath the path of the linotype projection fi. The continued motion of the mold-wheel A pushes the block m off the knife E, which is then free to be raised by the spring o. It is at this point that the present invention comes into operation by imposing a brake on the first portion of the upward motion Iof the knife E. The pull of the spring o and the contour of the teeth of the escapement-wheel r set the pendulum-bob s2 swinging, because the pawl r2 locks the escapement-wheel r to the pinion q, with the result that the said portion of the knifes motion is a step-by-step one with a pause between each, each step being no more than the distance of only one tooth of the rack p for each oscillation of the pendulum. The projection n therefore comes up against the linotype projection t" gently enough to obviate the risk of the latter being shorn off. The last-mentioned projection t" is next pushed to the front, along the top of the knife E, by the ej ecting motion of the ej ector-blade C, whereupon the second or completing portion of the upward motion of the said knife is completed by the pull of the sprin g 0, opposed, it is true, by the pendulum-brake but the action of the brake during this completing portion of the upward motion is not essential to the invention and occurs only because it is considered IOO IIO

unnecessary to provide for the disconnection of the pawl r2 and ratchet-wheel r.

1. The combination with the movable trimming-knife of a linotype-machine and mechanism for moving it out of the way before the advance of a two-line-capital linotype or the like and for replacing it in its normal position, of a mechanism adapted to brake or retard the return motion of the said knife, as set forth.

2. The combination with the movable trimming-knife of a linotype-machine and mechanism for moving it out of the way before the advance of a two-line-capital linotype or the like and for replacing it in. its normal position, of a pendulum escapement adapted to IZO In witness whereof I, the said LOTTIE MARY IRELAND, have hereunto aiixed my signature, in presence of two Witnesses, this 23d day of December, 1897.

LOTTIE M. IRELAND, A(Zo1ri0z1'sf2cM1'/fc of he estad@ of O' hcwles Lewis Ireland, deceased.

Witnesses:

PHILIP T. DODGE, J. F. GEORGE. 

